I have one and I'm not a brand proponent of any sorts. The ONLY piece of advice I would offer is make sure it runs on natural gas from your gas meter (or your neighbor's gas meter if you can get away with that.) Not having to source fuel during a storm is paramount. No lines, no shortages, and comfort and convenience is what whole home is ALL about.
Thanks for the replies. It will be run off of propane. My Dad has a Kholer and has had good luck with it, but I wanted some first hand opinions from some of yall that have to depend on them.
Good stuff.... If I may add a question.... How big do you need? I know I saw a calculator somewhere???
You ought to look into the Honda NorthStar line of generators, those come from the factory as a try-fuel power (gas, propane, natural gas). They make them up to 13k in size...
If you're planning to run a whole house generator off propane, that will be a really big pill tank.
As far as size goes, you take your house's maximum current draw (everything on) and add %40 to it for safe overhead. So for instance, your house pulls 80A on one leg and 85A on the other (use the higher leg for calculation), you have a 110Amp house @ 220 volts. So with that in mind, you will be wanting a 25,000 to 30,000 watt generator. This is example only and your house may pull more or less. Test with a reliable amp clamp.
As far as brand goes, DO NOT go Generac. While Generac is fairly reliable, the company has had some major issues of late with fulfilling warranty requests (i.e. just not paying). A recommended alternative is Katolight/MTU Power Systems These generators can come with John Deere diesel engines and have a wide range of outfitting options.
How would you even test something like that or get that kind of info from?
Thanks
Get something like this
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...ce=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032235
and clamp it over each big black wire coming into your house from the power pole. If you cannot access them or are not comfortable coming near them (some people just aren't, understandably) you can get an electrician to tell you what your needs are.
Each big black wire is a 110v "leg" coming in. On single phase residential you have 2 of these to get 220v. On 3 phase (very uncommon to find on a residence) you have 3 of these black wires coming from the pole. Just clamp over each wire separately with the ammeter and see what the current value is.
Oh, the single phase calculation formula:
(Highest single leg amps)*(.40)*(220volts) = Required Wattage
The reason for the 40% overhead is to allow room to start heavy motor loads like pumps, fans and compressors without stalling the generator or exceeding 80% power capacity. Exceeding 80% output will significantly shorten the life of the generator head as well as cause excessive fuel consumption and carbon buildup in the engine.
The other thing that can happen is getting too much generator for the job. If you oversize the generator or run it for extended periods of time without much load, your generator will suffer from "wet stacking" where unburned fuel is sprayed into the exhaust. (this problem is more prevalent in diesel gensets than natural gas/propane).
Get something that runs @ 1800 rpms and get something that is water cooled, and get something with a pressurized oil system.. the rest is up to your needs.. these are basic longevity needs..